Topic: Forced Sterilization
1st Response: Research Topic w/ website (150 word minimum) and your opinion
2nd Response: Research the opposite of your opinion w/website (150 word minimum)
Ethics Topic: Forced Sterilization
10 Feb 2014 24 Comments
in Ethics
Medical Talk 
Feb 10, 2014 @ 11:20:03
I believe there should be forced sterilization laws in place. This is a very sensitive subject for me because I truly believe that every child is a gift. I do believe that there are limits unto which people can continue to have children. As a foster parent, I see first hand the devastation that is placed upon children when they are taken from their home. Some cases are rectified and the parents do their services and the children and parents are reunited. Parents learn from their mistakes and get their children back and their family in order. Unfortunately this is not usually the case. Children are being bounced between foster and group homes. They may be reunited for a short while with parents, only to be ripped from their homes again because of poor parenting and choices. This has a devastating effect on the children that they must carry and overcome. Forced sterilization needs to be in effect for parents who have consistently shown that they are unable to parent. These are the exact same people who continue to have child after child that the system has to raise and try to repair from their dysfunction. There would need to be set standards and some type of baseline to enforce this, but yes it definitely needs to be put into place.
Feb 10, 2014 @ 11:22:29
http://www2.webster.edu/~woolflm/forcedsterilization.html
Feb 10, 2014 @ 20:28:11
No disrespect intended…I understand your point of view, but I hate to lose hope on those parents who were once good parents, got hurt and then addicted to drugs. I know people who were once good parents, then got addicted to drugs and were crappy parents during that time; they got off the drugs and are once again good parents. I just can’t believe that this only happens to a couple that got in a bad car wreck. I understand there are people who go down that path through bad choices, but I also know people who decided they didn’t want to live the rest of their lives like that. They have their kids back, they work really, really hard and they are good parents. I just can’t lose hope for the rest.
This too, is a very sensitive subject for me. If you take time to read my post you will understand why. My children are a blessing to me, and I thank God for a teacher who had faith in me.
Feb 11, 2014 @ 18:15:40
I do feel there is a problem with some adults and having children and no means to take care of them. The hard part is that every case and every situation is different. I feel that it could help in a lot of different ways, but will cause a whole new set of problems.
Feb 15, 2014 @ 14:30:58
I would have to say you’re exactly right Karrie, I know children who have had this happen to them as well and they are so confused because to be taken away from your parents, the only thing you’ve ever known is scary for anyone especially a child who doesn’t understand why it’s happening, then to get comfortable in your new surroundings and be ripped away from that as well! What an emotional roller coaster to be on, possibly being separated from your siblings as well. It can destroy many important characteristics in a child that they either can’t get back or have to work at for years to rebuild. Trust, love, hope, security, stability. Growing up without these natural constants for children can also have a negative ripple effect on later generations. It’s a scary thought but it could be stopped.
Feb 16, 2014 @ 17:19:56
Thank you for your perspective. It is indeed hard on the children who are bounced back and forth because of their parents choices.
Feb 11, 2014 @ 08:23:05
I have always loved the thought of having children one day. I often think about names and imagine if I would have a boy or girl. This is not something I know that will be able to happen. I have been having some health issues and having children may be affected. When I look around I see all of these children having children. I see 15 year olds with 3 kids. Or I see a 22 year old that had all 4 of her kids taken away. I get sad, and sometimes even jealous. To see these babies being dragged around with dirty clothes and diapers, so mom and dad can hang out with friends. I do not believe it should be forced. But I believe that parents should have the option to put in a removable birth control when the child is born. And then, at age 18, or 21, they can have the option to remove that birth control. This way, there will be no unwanted babies being left on the street. Maybe a 15 year old would not have to hide her pregnancy from everyone she knows.
Feb 12, 2014 @ 11:55:35
I agree with you that it is sad to see those that can, take it for granite that they can. I think unless you helped care for siblings while growing up (and sometimes not even then) you can’t know the extent that having a child will change your life. You have to be willing to put them before you. That means before your friends, your hobbies, and your lifestyle. Even though I knew that for me I did not want to have children past 30, I do not think that girls should just start having kids young. Generation after generation children are physically developing earlier but mentally developing later and later. So should I be where my daughter is today I might not have the same goal by 30.
Feb 11, 2014 @ 14:25:06
Forced sterilization is a touchy subject. I mean nobody should be forced to do something they don’t want, but I feel it maybe necessary also. I knew a couple that was on welfare and disability that informed me that they had already had up to 8 children that had been taken by the state but just had another baby. They really seemed like they didn’t have the parenting capabilities even though the state was trying to help them with that. So when do you say when enough is enough and make people not have any more children. I myself was a young mother and also went to school with other young mothers some didn’t have any more kids but there was a few that kept having them and was relying on welfare to take care of them. I have also have had people ask me how I could have a baby at a young age. I told them it was hard but that age doesn’t really matter either because there are people twice my age who can’t handle taking care of a baby. So I feel that it’s up to the person and how responsible they are and if they are willing to work hard to make the child life as best as they can. To be the best parent they can be.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/8/23/righting-a-wrongnctopayvictimsofforcedsterilization.html
Feb 15, 2014 @ 19:45:05
I agree it all depends on the person, some people just have the know how to raise kids and some do not.
Feb 16, 2014 @ 17:22:50
Congratulations on being one of the few who did make it work at such a young age. Good luck as you continue to parent.
Feb 12, 2014 @ 12:40:25
Forces sterilization is something that I have heard about in other countries not so much in the United States but I know it is here as well. I don’t agree with forces sterilization if it taking away a women’s right to have children. The only argument I find is to help keep down population. Or do it to those on welfare. The other one I saw was for those medically unable to raise a child. Of course there are a fee reasons that this would make since to do but to make it a broad statement that this group these people will be forced that’s taking away the rights of women. This is not the answer to end the high number of people on welfare. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3299450
Feb 12, 2014 @ 13:10:29
I understand that people feel that forced sterilization would take people’s rights away to choose to have children. I get that there are some that make bad choices during part of their life and then can make changes and become good parents at a later time, but how many chances should they get? How many times should they have such a negative impact on another’s life? As adults we can choose what we do and who we associate with but children do not have those rights in the same way. They don’t get to choose who their parents are and how their parents choose to care for them. So is this a right that people should just be given?
Feb 16, 2014 @ 18:33:25
I agree with you Misty. There has been a movement of Eugenics in the U.S., but for the most part I see it in other countries, communist places like South Korea and China where people have less choices in their lives… and instead the government chooses for them. If we made it legal practice to sterilize those we deemed incompetent or with undesirable traits…it would create a slippery slope for sterilizing just anyone we saw as society outcasts and some would be unjustly sterilized.
Feb 12, 2014 @ 12:40:52
The reason that some people think that there should be a forced sterilization is to help with population and stop people from having kids that could have offspring that are disabled. In a lot of country they do not even tell the women that is was done until after the fact to prevent them from fighting the issue. It was once only being done to women who were severally retared but then it was done to women with only mildly retardation. In Japen there has been reports of it being done to women that a prone to have a female baby. Are these reasons good enough to make it a law? Or is it taking away people rights? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3299450
Feb 12, 2014 @ 12:56:23
I think there would be many reason that forced sterilization would be a solution. Fore those that have demonstrated on multiple occasions that they can’t care for their children and yet continue to have them. Punishment for those of certain crimes, rapist would be a good example. While it won’t cure them of the desire it would at the very least make it so there would not be any pregnancies from them. I think that this is also something that would have to be monitored. In the wrong hands it could be used to try and weed out what some might think are undesirable, such as certain genetics. This certainly should not be kept to one gender versus another. It would work the same for males as females. If a male had several children with multiple partners and not paying his share of the cost and care then sterilization should be in order. There are too many people running around not taking the precautions that they need to and then thinking it is just okay to no own up to their part of the bargain. I get that men do not always have a say if a pregnancy is terminated or not but they do have the choice to play their part in making sure one does not have happen in the first place. If this is something that either party cannot figure out how to do then by all means we should be able to step in and help with that.
http://www.cbv.ns.ca/mchs/Issues/Sterilization/Pros%20&%20Cons.html
Feb 15, 2014 @ 14:06:51
I agree with you, this would be fantastic! I read an article a couple years ago about a man who was asking for leniency on his child support payment because he had 30 children! To me that is just ridiculous and should have been stopped, not to say any of those children don’t deserve their life but it should have never gotten to the point where one man has 30 children and without a doubt the state is footing the bill for his inability to do his part to care for them.
Feb 15, 2014 @ 19:27:35
30 children..and now he wants leniency? hmmm should of thought of that after 2 kids.
Feb 15, 2014 @ 19:43:08
After reading some articles It sounds like this is done a lot on the handicap. I guess it would all depend on the severity and case by case difference for me to decide. One of the reason to live in the USA is to make our own choices. Even if you are not proven to be a good parent. It is sad that this effects the kids that are being born.
I heard in China that they were only allowed one child for the longest time and no girls either, I think that they have removed that due to the fact that now they have all these boys and girls. I’m not sure that it helped their population either.
Feb 16, 2014 @ 07:08:30
This subject matter would have to have a lot of guidelines and qualifications for one to be forced to do so. Plus it would be on a case by case basis. There are plenty of great people and couples that would love to have children and can not. Which many would love to foster and adopt, but it takes time, money, and effort to be granted the child.Then they have so many things to qualify and they reject for any reason that they feel is not right. I see so many of my peers and even friends and people I grew up with that have had children and for some odd reason their parents or grandma is now raising their children while they are still living life like they have none. Plus they are not even being responsible and protecting themselves from being placed in the same situation all over again. Which many have just also placed that second, third, and so on with their parents, grandma, ect. I do feel that we live in the U.S. because we have the choice to make, but people are not making the right choices and it is effecting others around them and people that pay taxes. Regardless, it is not about bad choices, children having children, or who is paying for this child. It is all about the child and how this will effect that child later in life. Nobody is perfect and raising children is a process that you learn with experience. Your going to make mistakes and your going to do things wrong. But if you don’t learn from them and your not putting that child before yourself then something is not right. It could be that you was not raised right and have your own life’s lessons that were not done the right way. So then we have to go deeper and find the root of the problem and see what mistakes were made in your up bringing. I feel that it would fix one problem and then open another.
Feb 16, 2014 @ 15:58:52
I feel that this is wrong. Yes there are people out who are having too many children. But then again there are those who can’t have them. Every child is a gift. This subject is very touchy to me because I wasn’t even suppose to be here. But here I am in a family of 5 children, and I turned out perfectly fine. I believe that there are people that shouldn’t have children and then there are people who try to have children and loose them due to lies and rumors. But everyone has their own opinion and I am not here to change anyone’s opinion.
Feb 16, 2014 @ 17:25:49
Thank you for your honesty. Every child is a gift and there are people out there who are good parents despite their circumstances.
Feb 16, 2014 @ 17:53:40
There are many people in our society who have kids without ever taking responsibility for them, and that is wrong. For example, life-long welfare recipients and people who can’t stay out of jail/prison shouldn’t be having children if they can not take care of and provide for them. I get this and I don’t agree with it…but I don’t think forced sterilization is an ethical resolution either. I believe forced sterilization is too radical a position to take…no matter how wrong a person is in what they’ve done in their lives, it doesn’t make it ok for society/government to go in and surgically intervene. If this were legal, it would be a slippery slope on who is deemed “inept” or incapable of reproducing. Some people choose to turn their lives around and become contributing members to society, and capable parents. I would recommend less permanent options in dealing with these issues such as removable contraceptives like Mirena or Depo Vera, that are useful for contraception for years at a time, and can be removed without reproductive side effects.
http://www.empowher.com/reproductive-system/content/morality-forced-sterilization
Feb 16, 2014 @ 18:14:00
Perhaps the only situation I can see maybe it ok for forced sterilization is child molesters. It is very hard for me to imagine those with inappropriate compulsions toward children, who have a history of acting on those compulsions, have a right to have children of their own. In these situations, I think it is a possibility that yes, they have given up their right to reproduce. For the safety of any children that they do have, maybe there should be forced sterilizations in these cases.